


Must Have been the Wind

by crilynd



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Explicit Language, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 22:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crilynd/pseuds/crilynd
Summary: College kid Hoseok didn't care who the hell lived in the dorm above him a week ago but shattered glass changes that and saves someone in the process.





	Must Have been the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO. I'm back from my hiatus what up yall, and if you're new,, hello!!!! This is a little sadder and different-ish from what I usually write but I hope yall are still into it. 
> 
> Anyway,,,, enjoy!!
> 
> Title: Alec Benjamin - Must have been the wind

** _I heard glass shatter on the wall in the apartment above mine_ **

** _At first I thought that I was dreamin’_ **

College is fucking exhausting.

Hoseok has spent the last few weeks completely hyped up on energy drinks and iced coffee pumped with terrifying amounts of espresso, filled with a naive belief that the caffeine is enough to make up for the sleep he hasn’t been getting. His roommates  — and, fortunately (or unfortunately, at times), closest friends  —  Hyunwoo and Hyungwon, are convinced that he’s going to crash at some point. If the nearly inhuman amount of fatigue that, out of nowhere, is beginning to come in and taken control of his mind and body was anything to go by, that point was here. 

He slams his laptop shut and leans back into the old creaky desk chair that he had dragged out of his parents’ home when he first moved for college. Just as he closes his eyes and gives his muscles a chance to relax, he hears a loud thump from the room upstairs, followed by an alarming crash of glass.

Hoseok’s wonderful dreams of dropping out of college and becoming one of those shitty toy review channels on YouTube shatters with the next piece of glassware that, without a doubt, just broke.

The fatigue gave way to instinct as he nearly leaps into the air and falls to the ground.

Right onto his ass.

He lands on the stained, musty carpet of their dorm and wants to punch whoever is upstairs for waking him up from his almost-nap.

** _But then I heard the voice of a girl _ **

** _And it sounded like she’d been crying_ **

** _Now I’m too worried to be sleepin’_ **

The adrenaline rush he gets from the initial shock of it all is enough to help Hoseok process his surroundings.

It’s twelve forty-seven in the moning, so what the fuck could they be doing?

That’s when he hears it.

“I-I’m sorry hyung, he doesn’t mean anything to me!” A voice gasps, slightly muffled by the shitty barrier between the two rooms. It’s shaky and raspy, the same kind of raspy Hoseok’s voice is after he has a good cry. There’s another thump before everything is just as silent as it was before. It’s unsettling after hearing the boy from upstairs, really. 

What the  _ Fuck? _

Hoseok begins to worry. He also gets a bit curious. But maybe more worried than curious. Yeah, definitely more worried. 

** _I took the elevator to the second floor_ **

** _Walked down the hall and then I knocked upon the door_ **

** _She opened up and I asked about the things I’ve been hearing_ **

It’s late, but it doesn’t take much for him to conclude that there’s a solid chance that the boy he heard is still up, especially when he thinks about only minutes had passed between now and when he heard the thumps and the crashing and the boy’s voice. 

Hoseok shoves a hoodie over his head and shuffles from his room to the dorm’s entrance. He tries to look casual, he really does, but the bags under his eyes are so deep, that even he feels pain at the sight of them, almost as if he’s his own mother. His sunken eyes, combined with his unbrushed hair, baggy sweatpants, old hoodie, and the slides that he put on over sock feet, turned him into a personification of the ultimate college kid stereotype.

He glances at the stairwell door, contemplates taking the stairs, but the exhaustion begins to settle into him, deep within his bones. Like the devil, it whispers into his ear, convinces him to be lazy, to give in, to take the elevator instead.

He gives in. Just this once.

Hoseok presses the button that takes him to the floor above his and begins to sway as he begins his ascent. He doesn’t even realize how tired he is until he literally falls to the floor when the elevator stops. Not bothering to get up, he crawls out and into the hallway and sits there for a minute. He observes a group of dangerously drunk girls in squeaky leather clothes that barely cover their bodies stumble into a room and shut the door behind them.

Sighing, he grabs onto the wall and somehow pulls himself up. Alcohol isn’t new. It also isn’t his problem.

He walks down the hall, counting each door until he’s standing in the one that leads to the room situated directly above his. Hoseok brings an arm up to knock, but pauses.

Alcohol isn’t his problem. Neither is this. He’s probably better off leaving. He drops his arm.

But that devil on his shoulder had somehow turned into an angel. Its voice is like candy, sickeningly sweet and unwaveringly convincing as it brings his hand back up and places it against the door.

Hoseok complies.

Once he knocks, it barely takes more than a few seconds for the door to swing open and reveal a boy much smaller than any other college student Hoseok has ever seen before. 

** _She said, "I think your ears are playing tricks on you"_ **

** _Sweater zipped up to her chin_ **

** _"Thanks for caring, sir, that's nice of you_ **

** _But I have to go back in_ **

** _Wish I could tell you about the noise_ **

** _But I didn't hear a thing"_ **

The boy is small, Hoseok sees. Before he can say anything, Hoseok notices his maroon sweater and how it seems to swallow him whole. The fact that it’s completely zipped up does little to help, especially with the way he has his neck concealed and chin tucked in.

Hoseok just needs sleep, but he swears that the sight before him reminds him of a little boy, being drowned by a violent, raging sea of blood. His fingertips peaked out the ribbed sleeve trims and Hoseok just realized they were shaking. Huh.

The boy’s eyes are narrowed, the rage in them sharply contrasting his otherwise innocent look. Paired with his silky brown hair, it makes him nothing short of beautiful. Or, it would, but his hands are shaking so much that they pull all of Hoseok’s attention from his face.

“Can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m from the room directly beneath yours and I heard some noises a few minutes ago. I was just wondering what they were? Are you alright?” Hoseok plasters a smile onto his face in an attempt to reassure him, despite knowing that he probably looked like a zombie. 

The boy's eyes hone in on something on the wall behind Hoseok. His shaking gets even worse, but he smiles anyways. looks fearful and his shaking gets worse.

Hoseok knows.

He knows that something's wrong, that the noises were more than just noises, that the shaking is more than just shaking.

He knows, but he wishes he didn't.

“I-It's nice of you to c-c-come check on me, but… but everything's okay here. It’s just me and my boyfriend here and he would… he would get worried if I was up for much longer." He retained his smile, but his eyes still didn't meet Hoseok's. "I-I wish I could tell you what the noise was but… I really didn’t hear anything.” As he speaks, Hoseok turns a bit so he's able to see more of the dorm's interior. The sight of stained glass shards polluting the ratty carpet stabs into his heart like a thousand knives, but he'd be lying if he said that it surprised him.

Hoseok wonders why the boy keeps lying.

** _She said, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

** _She said, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

“Hm, well, sorry to bother you then…” Hoseok drags his words out, blindly hoping that the boy will get the hint. He doesn’t want to refer to him as “the boy.” 

The boy hesitates. "C-Changkyun,” He says at last. Hoseok nods.

“Changkyun.” Hoseok confirms and goes to leave.

“It, uh… It must have been the wind. I hope you have a good rest of your night-morning… uh, yeah.” Changkyun’s face flushes in embarrassment as he promptly shuts the door.

Hoseok can’t help but think that Changkyun (an adorable name for an equally adorable person) is perfection, despite the fact that Changkyun is in a relationship. 

** _So I was layin' on the floor of my room_ **

** _Cold concrete on my back_ **

** _No, I just couldn't shake the feeling_ **

** _I didn't want to intrude 'cause I knew that I didn't have all the facts_ **

** _But I couldn't bear the thought of leavin' her_ **

When he wakes up the next morning, Hoseok still feels like shit. He barely got any sleep the previous night, with his thoughts running laps around Changkyun.

Something wasn’t right.

Hoseok spends the morning asking for advice from Hyungwon and Hyunwoo, but Hyungwon has little to say other than to remind him of the fact that it's none of his business. Hyunwoo only insists that Hoseok shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

Hoseok still felt his stomach roil in unease. 

That night, Hoseok lays on his bed, eyes wide open, listening closely to his ceiling. He doesn't want to assume what's happening in the room above his, but, in some way, he's afraid for the small boy.

He prays that it isn’t what he thinks it is. Something like that happening to Changkyun makes him want to throw up. 

Thirty minutes pass.

Nothing.

An hour passes.

Still nothing.

Ninety minutes pass.

Not nothing.

_ "Fuck it!" _

Hoseok jolts up at the sudden shout, thrown out of the hazy trance he had slowly been falling into.

** _So I took the elevator to the second floor_ **

** _Walked down the hall and then I knocked upon her door_ **

** _She opened up and I asked about the things I've been hearing_ **

Hoseok slips a worn sweater over his head and trudges out his dorm room. This time around he just heads straight for elevator. 

He barely takes a step into the metal box when he swings his arm in to hit the button to the second floor. 

He's antsy, just as he was the night before. This time though, he doesn't hesitate.

The elevator doors slide open with a creak and he runs.

He runs to Changkyun's door and knocks twice, having learned his lesson from the night before.

This time, Changkyun opens the door within seconds. 

** _She said, "I think your ears are playing tricks on you"_ **

** _Sweater zipped up to her chin_ **

** _"Thanks for caring, sir, that's nice of you_ **

** _But I have to go back in_ **

** _Wish I could tell you about the noise_ **

** _But I didn't hear a thing"_ **

“O-Oh, uh hi..?” Changkyun looks confused and Hoseok almost coos as Changkyun tilts his head to the side like a puppy. 

“Hoseok.” Hoseok fills in his name and Changkyun nods. 

“I-Is something bothering you, H-Hoseok-ssi?” Changkyun stumbles on the name, almost as if he's not used to using them.

Hoseok takes note of the detail. 

“No, nothing really is bothering me,” Hoseok starts. “I just wanted to check up on you.”

It’s a strange statement, one that doesn’t make much sense, especially when considering the fact that Hoseok didn’t know or care about who lived above him until just a few days ago, but Hoseok just blurted out whatever came to his head first. 

“Oh, w-well, I’m… okay?” Changkyun is still confused and Hoseok isn't dumb enough to not admit that this whole thing isn't creepy of him. He scrambles to explain himself. 

“I-I’m sorry… I just… Are you okay? Last night those sounds were pretty concerning and I’m just worried.”

Hoseok really needs to learn how to filter and control his mouth. It would do him some good. He watches Changkyun tense up at the mention of the night prior and Hoseok’s feelings are a weird, tangled piece of twine. He regrets bringing it up and not regretting it in the slightest. 

“I… um… like I told you last night, it was really nothing. I think you’re hearing things.”

Changkyun is bad at lying, Hoseok thinks. His eyes are everywhere but on Hoseok. “T-Thank you for caring Hoseok-ssi-,” 

“Just Hoseok or Hoseok-hyung.” Hoseok cuts him off. “I’m in my junior year here.” He adds the last bit in case Changkyun is younger than him, which, judging by his looks, seems highly likely. 

“O-Oh. Um, thank you for caring Hoseok-h-hyung,” Changkyun’s eyes glanced up warily as he said the name and honorific.

“B-But really there wasn’t any noise that came from my boyfriend and I’s room.”

Suddenly, there’s a violent train of curses as an angry man storms out of the hallway. He looks as if he’s about to lose his mind, but takes a deep breath the second he sees Hoseok at the door. 

“Kyun.” Hoseok doesn’t think he likes the cutesy nickname coming out of this man’s mouth. His voice is sickly sweet and Hoseok wants to throw up at the sight of the belt gripped tightly in the man’s claw-like hand. 

The look in the man’s eyes could have easily been mistaken for love and care, but, to Hoseok, the affection was overpowered by the fury.

“We’ll talk about this later.” The man's tone is firm. He disappears behind the hallway wall again.

Changkyun is shaking. 

“I-I have to go! Thank you for caring Hoseok-hyung, but, really, it was nothing.” 

Changkyun eyes are anywhere, but Hoseok bends at the waist for a full bow anyways and goes to close the door.

Changkyun was a bad liar and Hoseok wishes he would tell Hoseok the truth.

** _She said, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

** _She said, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

“If you insist.” Hoseok wanted to stay to protect Changkyun, but he doesn’t know if he’s ready for that confrontation yet.

“Goodbye, Hoseok-hyung, it must have been the wind.”

Changkyun gives him a shaky smile. Even if it was filled with fear and anxiety, it was radiant. Hoseok wonders what a genuine smile from the boy would look like. He's sure it would blind him. 

** _Aim my boombox at the roof, I'm playing "Lean on Me"_ **

** _Just so that she knows that she can lean on me_ **

** _And when she hears the words, I hope she knows she'll be okay_ **

** _Aim my boombox at the roof, I'm playing "Lean on Me"_ **

** _Just so that she knows that she can lean on me_ **

** _And when she hears the words, I know exactly what I'll say_ **

Hyungwon and Hyunwoo are convinced that Hoseok has lost his mind. Why else would he be blasting “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers straight up at his ceiling? Hoseok won’t tell them why he’s doing it and there’s no other explanation other than Hoseok’s lost his damn mind. 

In reality, he's secretly hoping that Changkyun can hear it and understand what it means.

It’s a bizarre hope, one that makes no sense.

Hoseok only met this kid days ago, but he's convinced he knows what the hell is going on. Maybe it’s the tiny crush he has on Changkyun, or the realization that he's suffering through something terrible. Whatever it is, Hoseok knows that he needs to step in. 

It takes two whole days of blasting “Lean on Me” (on one of those days, he heard a thump and a muffled high-pitched scream and his heart clenched. He wished his speakers could go louder) to come up with a plan. 

Hoseok admits that this is insane. His boyfriend seems like a violent person that can probably destroy Hoseok with just a finger, but he can’t just stand by and watch this anymore.

He waits by the front door of the dorm building, in the lounge just chilling on the couch with a women’s fashion magazine to cover his face. 

He sits and waits until he sees Changkyun’s boyfriend leave. When the door slams shut behind the man, Hoseok races to the stairs, too frantic to even  _ try _ to wait for the elevator. He's panting by the time he makes it to Changkyun’s room

He takes in deep breaths and gathers every bit of courage in him. He knocks twice. The door swings open. Hoseok wants to cry at the sight of Changkyun. 

Changkyun really looks like he’s drowning in the sweater he’s wearing and, even worse, his right eye is swollen shut and purple and blue and every color it shouldn’t be. 

“Fuck. Changkyun are you okay?” Hoseok wants to throw up. Changkyun’s eye widens, his single eye. 

“O-Oh this?” Changkyun gestures to the black eye. He tries to laugh, but it comes out high-pitched and squeaky and broken and all wrong.

“I-I’m just so… so clumsy, you know? Don’t worry, it was just a silly accident from falling over.”

He forces another laugh is and Hoseok doesn't even recognize the emotions broiling within him.

** _Promise I’m not playing tricks on you_ **

** _You're always welcome to come in_ **

** _You could stay here for an hour or two_ **

** _If you ever need a friend_ **

** _We can talk about the noise, when you're ready, _ **

“I-,” Despite all the times he rehearsed in the mirror, he doesn't know how to start his consolidation speech.

“If you ever want to talk or hang out or something, we can hang out with my friends in my door room. Y-You seem like… You're a cool person.” Hoseok gets choked up staring straight at Changkyun's injured eye. 

He did not account for that while practicing. 

Hoseok hopes his eyes are conveying every emotion he’s feeling at the moment. Judging by the way Changkyun’s posture slouches just a little bit, the feeling does transfer. 

Changkyun just nods in response, eyes looking almost straight at Hoseok's, fingers twisting at the seams of his sweater.

** _But 'til then_ **

** _I'll say, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

** _I'll say, "It must have been the wind, must have been the wind_ **

** _Must have been the wind, it must have been the wind"_ **

“I’ll, uh… That’s… That's all I wanted to tell you so… I'll just… go now.” Hoseok jerks his thumb over his shoulder.

Changkyun nods, but he doesn’t move to shut the door.

They can't look away from each other. 

Hoseok backs up and up and up, their eyes never leaving each other. He bumps into the wall, Changkyun still looking on. Hoseok still has enough shame to look embarrassed, but it quickly disappears as he watches Changkyun giggle. 

Hoseok was right. He doesn’t know if he’ll make it back to his room without his sight. 

He somehow makes it back to his room alive, the memory of Changkyun’s warm, melted chocolate eye comforting him the whole time.

Hoseok doesn't hear anything from upstairs.

He doesn't visit the next day.

It's not until the day after that he hears frantic knocking at his door.

When Hoseok swings the door open, a small boy collapses into his arms, sobs tearing their way from his throat.

“It’s not the wind.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this! Kudos and comments are encouraged!!!


End file.
